Evel Knievel, My Hero as a Child, Has Died

Evel Knievel, the red-white-and-blue-spangled motorcycle daredevil whose jumps over crazy obstacles including Greyhound buses, live sharks and Idaho's Snake River Canyon made him an international icon in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 69.

Knievel's death was confirmed by his granddaughter, Krysten Knievel. He had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs.



Knievel had undergone a liver transplant in 1999 after nearly dying of hepatitis C, likely contracted through a blood transfusion after one of his bone-shattering spills.

Longtime friend and promoter Billy Rundel said Knievel had trouble breathing at his Clearwater condominium and died before an ambulance could get him to a hospital.

"It's been coming for years, but you just don't expect it. Superman just doesn't die, right?" Rundel said.



Immortalized in the Washington's Smithsonian Institution as "America's Legendary Daredevil," Knievel was best known for a failed 1974 attempt to jump Snake River Canyon on a rocket-powered cycle and a spectacular crash at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. He suffered nearly 40 broken bones before he retired in 1980.

Read the complete story at Yahoo News.

Richard Branson's Next Challenge

Cara Roberts photo

On a day when his luck nearly ran out, like his friend Steve Fossett's, British billionaire Richard Branson moved a step closer to joining the superheated Las Vegas casino business.

Branson, the founder and chairman of Virgin Group, confirmed Wednesday that he's working on a Las Vegas deal.

"We had some meetings today and I think Virgin will be flying over Las Vegas within a couple years," Branson told me during a red carpet interview at Tryst nightclub at Wynn Las Vegas.

Rumors have been flying for several years that Branson, one of Europe's most successful entrepreneurs, has plans to take on Las Vegas .

Meanwhile, with his injured hand heavily bandaged and still sore from another bruising stunt, Branson, 57, was counting his lucky stars.

In one of his most dangerous outings of all, Branson survived a wild and windy 407-foot plunge from the top of the Palms' Fantasy Tower.

"I've never done a stunt like that before," said Branson, who took such a beating that his tuxedo pants were torn apart. "That was my first fall like that. I've done some mad things but I've never done anything quite like that."

Tricky 20 mph wind gusts kept slamming him into glass and concrete during his fall. He was wearing a full-body harness connected to a cable.

" You're going 100 mph and you're banging against the wall. It was slightly unnerving. But I'm well, everything's fine."

Read the rest of this story in the amazing Norm Clarke's column.

BRANSON INJURED IN SUCCESSFUL STUNT AT PALMS

British billionaire daredevil Richard Branson suffered a cut hand and bruises during an 80-second per feet descent Wednesday from the 407-foot mark of the Palms’ Fantasy Tower.

A shaken Branson limped away to his room to change clothes after his pants were ripped during the wind-plagued stunt. Gusts of 20 miles per hour nearly caused Branson’s latest adventure to be postponed, a member of his team said.

Just before his descent in a full-body harness, Branson outstretched his arms and took the plunge from a perch near Moon nightclub near the top of the tower.

He was lowered by a high-speed cable winch, which was similar the same one used in Spider Man films.

Branson did not address the media, because of his medical needs.

— NORM CLARKE, Vegas Confidential from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Sir Richard Branson to rappel off Palms tower

Sir Richard Branson has another adventure up his sleeve, this time in Las Vegas.

The British thrill-seeker, who founded Virgin Airlines, loves a challenge, from dangerous transoceanic hot-air balloon races to sitting in a swimming pool in the middle of a hurricane.

Today he plans to rappel 40-some floors off the Palms Fantasy Tower to celebrate his inaugural Virgin America flight from San Francisco to Las Vegas.

Comedy magicians Penn & Teller will emcee the stunt, starting at 6 p.m.

This comes from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.